Scrapbooking Sweet Memories --- Homemaking Link-Up Weekend

Happy Friday!

Lately, I've been in the mood to do some scrapbooking.  I have SO many supplies but SO little time! Ha!  The last time I worked on scrapbooks, I was inspired by this sweet picture of Selah.  One day last year, she dressed up pretty, had Lynzie do her hair, and asked me to do a photo shoot!

When I was going through the pictures, I was reminded of this one we took of her when she was just a few days old.  This was her first day at church and she was wearing Lynzie's red baby dress.

Jamie bought me this pretty Victorian scrapbooking paper with pinks and reds and beautiful roses.  In fact, he's bought me a bunch of this over the last few years but I've not used it as much as I would have liked to.  So, one day I put together this layout featuring her in the red dress...

...and the baby dress!  Why oh why do they have to grow up so quickly?

I made a couple other sets but have yet to fill them with pictures and embellishments.

This one is my favorite but I think I'll change out that weird white bow at the bottom left of the page on the right.  The lace was sent to me by a good friend from Finland whom I met on Bookcrossing.com.

What kinds of pretty projects have you been working on lately?  Do you have a favorite of my three layouts? 




<a href="http://www.bloggingwhilewaiting.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc418/lostinavalon1/Homemakinglinkup.png" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a> I'd love to have you join me for my Homemaking Link-Up Weekend.  Please link up your favorite posts and share the button on your blog so your friends can join too!

Blessings!

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Linking up with:
Homemaking Link-Up Weekend
Beverly's Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound
Made With Love @ Sew Chatty 
What's In the Gunny Sack

Banana Date Cookies from Great Grandma's Kitchen

My great-grandpa Efeard, great-grandma Annabelle and grandpa George Bradley, Christmas 1942

Last year, I was given a box of my great-grandma's and great-great-grandma's recipes and cookbooks.

Great-great grandma Tresa Baker and son Harold, 1904

I know!  Totally a blessing, right?!!

I've been kicking around the idea of doing a series on Great Grandma's Kitchen where I share some of the more unique recipes they kept.  This morning, I was visiting Rachel at Bubbly Nature Creations where I discovered her Heirloom Recipes Blog Hop---the perfect place to link up these inherited recipes!


Please visit her blog hop at the end of this post and be inspired! You might even want to share your own Heirloom Recipes!

Although our family does not have any major food allergies that cause us to have to limit certain ingredients, I still like to be on the look out for wheat, sugar and egg-free recipes.  That way, I have something to either serve to our friends who are avoiding these groups, or offer to my kids for another healthy alternative.  Even better when I can find a recipe that uses up old bananas as we always seem to have a bunch! (Get it?  hee hee)

This recipe was featured in the March 7, 1979 issue of The Oregonian newspaper.  Nutritionist Pat Fitch put together this milk, egg, wheat and sugar free recipe which relies on fruit for sweetness.  It does contain nuts, which some have allergies to, but these can always be omitted.

I changed it up a little bit, substituting applesauce instead of oil (only healthy fats allowed in these cookies!) and adding cinnamon and nutmeg.  You could use several different purees in place of oil---pears, squash and pumpkin are all great substitutes.  They turned out excellent!  Very soft and dense.  They remind me of Erin Baker's Breakfast Cookies that I used to buy when we lived near Seattle.

Banana Date Cookies


3 bananas
3/4 c. applesauce or other fruit puree (or 1/3 c. oil)
1 c. chopped dates
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. oats
 

Mash bananas and use a spoon to mix in all other ingredients. 

Let the mixture stand for a few minutes so the oats can absorb some of the moisture. 

Drop onto a cookie sheet.  I use a Pampered Chef baking stone so I don't oil it but you might want to oil your cookie sheet a little since there's no oil in the recipe.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove from sheet and cool on a rack.

Let me know if you try them out---I'd love to hear from you!

Hope In Every Season is on Facebook!  If you like what you've read here, please follow me and keep up with the latest posts.

 

 

Hold Your Peace!

A peaceful evening in Morrow County, Eastern Oregon.

"You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength." ~ Isaiah 26: 3-4

"The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." ~ Exodus 14:14

Hold your peace!

That's a phrase we use when we want to tell someone to "calm down", "get a hold of yourself"...or, simply, "HUSH!"

Surely there was a little bit of that connotation associated with the phrase in chapter 14 of Exodus.  The Israelites had just left Egypt and had found out that Pharaoh was pursuing them.  Instead of trusting God and his miracles thus far, they were freaking out and accusing Moses of leading them out into the wilderness to be murdered by Pharaoh's army.

However, there's another truth we can extract from these words.   

"The LORD will fight for you"...

How does God's method of doing battle differ from ours?

"You shall hold your peace"...

"Hold" = retain, hold on to, don't let go of

How much more peaceful would our lives be if we let God handle those things that rile us up?

The best of relationships will face frustrating times now and then!

Often times, my children will become frustrated with one another---usually it's one of the little ones not "obeying" an older one.  The angered child will try over and over to make the irritating sibling bend to his/her will.  When they finally realize the other is not giving in, there are usually raised voices and resentful attitudes.

I've been training them to try to discuss the issue nicely once.  If that doesn't get the desired result, they're to come to me and let me decide if they should let it go or if I should mediate and help them out.  This makes for a much more peaceful atmosphere in our home.

I think this is what God desires to do with us.  He is willing to mediate our disagreements---and to fight our battles---so we can hold on to our peace.

Since He is the Perfect One---and we are the messed up ones---wouldn't it make sense to let Him?

Hope In Every Season is on Facebook!  If you like what you've read here, please follow me and keep up with the latest posts.

  This article was featured in Issue #96 of The Christian Home magazine.

Linking with: Teach Me Tuesdays @ Growing Home
Titus 2sDays @ The Time Warp Wife 
Women Helping Women @ Teaching What is Good 
Courtship Connection 
Modest Monday @ The Modest Mom 
Encourage One Another @ Deep Roots at Home 
Wednesday linkup @ Wholehearted Home 
Wisdom Wednesday @ Simply Helping Him 
Homemaking Linkup @ Raising Homemakers 
Wise Woman linkup 
Legacy Leaver Thursdays @ Leaving a Legacy 
HomeAcre Hop @ The Self Sufficient HomeAcre 
Matrimonial Monday @ A Proverbs 31 Wife